Sunday, 15 May 2016

DIY: WHAT MAKES A FAMILY?

Often we forget to tell our families how grateful we are for everything they do and how much we appreciate them. We all get so caught up in the trials and tribulations of daily life that we forget about what is really important, To me family doesn't always mean blood related, you can be a family through trust, respect and love.

Although I am a self confessed craft lover I have never actually delved into the paper craft world. However I was over the moon to be contacted by Create & Craft TV and sent a craft package to create a card for international families day which is today (May 15th!)

I'll be honest I have never heard of international families day until I was asked to create a card for this years theme which is families, health and a sustainable future; but I was curious to find out more about the day and how it correlates to more known days of celebration such as mothers day and fathers day. International families day reflects the importance the international community attaches to family.

The theme got me thinking about what enables a sustainable future as a family. Whether we like it or not, money does play a considerable role in the maintenance of family life. However I do believe there are more important elements to creating a future as a family that cannot be bought. My first design focused around these: love: the love you have forever for one another, happiness: sharing moments together from holidays to simple moments such as eating breakfast together, time: making time for one another even if it is at the end of the day whilst having tea and hope: it is so important to maintain hope in even the darkest of times. All of these combined can create a healthy family ensured of a sustainable future.

The cards came with a variety of different edges but I particularly liked the ones with the scalloped edging. I used excess scraps of paper I had from my scrapbook as the background and then cut out four jar shapes on kraft paper. I used a heart shaped hole puncher, golden pearl embellishments, buttons and glitter to be the 'filling' for the jars. Overall I wanted to keep the design fairly 'simple' so just finished it off with organza ribbon as a quarter border, topped with a bow.

My second design is dedicated to my lovely mum! It has always just been me and my mum, that is how I remember my childhood being. So I wanted to create a card to mark the admiration I have for my mum bringing me up as a single parent, because I cannot imagine how hard that must have been!

I wanted an overall shabby chic feel with this design, so I tore at the paper rather than cut it and added lace with pearl embellishments to bring the chic to the shabby. The 3D lace flower was simple to create and can be done by using old strips of lace simply folded inwards until ideal size to create that 'rose' look.

"Especially for you Mum" is from a book of essential sentiments which comes with so many different themes such as christenings, mothers day, birthdays etc. There was literally something to mark any occasion! They would also look really good on gift tags too! I was also given some alphabet beads which were easy to apply with a hot glue gun to the card and came in lots of colours, so they would be ideal for bracelet making.The most important design aspect for this card was layering as it really adds definition. Tip: if you start with two pieces of paper, glue them down flat and then begin to layer with double sided sticky tape, this enables the definition; and beads and pearls add to the overall effect.

I know I am not a professional! But like all my other crafting hobbies I really enjoyed making these cute little cards. I think it's something I would like to think about making for my own personal use in the future for family and friends. What do you think? Do you make your own cards? Is it something you would think about doing?